The scene of the Flagellation illustrated primes.
Jesus, stripped of His clothes which have been thrown
on the ground, is tied to a pillar at the entrance of the
praetorium, where He is beaten by several men with
switches. The Gospels scarcely mention the Flagellation, but mystics gave much thought to it, and popular imagination added such details as the Limbourgs represented here: the switches have broken
under the violence of the beating and litter the floor.
At the rear of the praetorium Pontius Pilate is
enthroned, surrounded by men of Jerusalem who
try to influence him. In a corner on the right, we see
a beardless youth writing on parchment; this is obviously Saint John recording the details of the Passion which he described in his Gospel. The bearded,
gray-haired figure looking through the door on the
left is probably Saint Peter.